Little Brother
by Ceressky
Summary: Yahiko's introspections about Kenshin and Kaoru. Short and sweet.


Little Brother ****

Little Brother

By Ceres_sky

"Busu!" Yahiko yelled as he ran down the hall. He could hear Kaoru behind him, waving her bokken around in a rage. 

"Yahiko, you come back here! I'm going to beat you to a pulp and then make you scrub the floors until your knees are raw!" 

Yahiko grinned as he pumped his legs faster, keeping ahead of her easily. His years as a pickpocket had paid off when it came to being chased by Kaoru. Any moment now, he knew Kenshin would interfere, provided the rurouni wasn't too busy doing laundry outside to come save him. Well, maybe he could bring the chase near Kenshin and then the swordsman would have to interfere, like it or not. 

"Yahiko!"

He ignored the shout of his sensei and burst through the front door, skidding to a stop for a moment's breath and then taking off again, straight toward where Kenshin was crouched on the ground, patiently scrubbing at laundry. As he flew past Kenshin, he glanced back momentarily to catch Kenshin's eye. He saw the swordsman nod slightly, that light twinkle in his eyes, and Yahiko knew he was saved. 

Yahiko darted behind the corner of the main house, unable to resist the urge to peek around the corner.

Kenshin stood to his feet, stretched, and stepped to the left, right into Kaoru's path. She careened into his back, sending them both flying to the ground. Somehow, Kenshin managed to twist himself around so that Kaoru landed on top of him instead of underneath him.

"Oroooooo…" Kenshin said. Yahiko knew that he was faking though. And he also knew exactly what Kaoru would say next.

"Don't 'oro' me, Kenshin!" Kaoru said, still holding her bokken. "Where did that little brat go?" She tried to stand to her feet, but Kenshin grabbed her wrist.

"Kenshin?" Kaoru's tone changed immediately. 

Kenshin stood to his feet, helping her up as he did so, and brushed off her shoulders, smiling. Yahiko grinned widely. Kenshin knew he was watching. Kaoru's back was to Yahiko, so she did not even know that the object of her wrath was standing behind them.

"Kaoru-dono, will you take a walk with me?" Kenshin asked. 

"A… a walk?"

"Yes, down by the river." Kenshin took her hand. Yahiko suppressed a giggle as Kaoru turned bright red.

"But what about Yahiko?"

Kenshin smiled. "He can take care of himself." Yahiko nodded in answer to Kenshin's unspoken question.

"But we're not done with our lesson," Kaoru protested weakly.

Kenshin pulled her toward the gate; she followed as if in a trance. "The lesson is done for today, Kaoru-dono."

"Kenshin…"

Yahiko stayed in his hiding place until he heard the gate close behind the couple. He sat on the porch steps leading up to the house and grinned at his own genius. His insulting of Kaoru was only a façade. He actually loved her as he would an older sister or even a mother. And he respected Kenshin as he would a father. He wanted so badly for them to love each other. For a very selfish reason.

He wanted a mother and father again.

A family. He already thought of Kenshin, Kaoru, and Sano as his family. But he wanted more. He wanted Kenshin and Kaoru to get married so that he could tease them and call them "Mom" and "Dad." They would never know the truth though. That he would actually think of them as his mother and father. He smiled. He wanted a little brother.

He knew that Kaoru probably only thought of him as a little brother and as her student. And he always repaid her with comments about her looks that he didn't really mean. He still remembered the time when he had run away, only to come back later that night to find Kaoru in tears. She had fallen to her knees and taken him in her arms, sobbing into his shoulder and telling him in stuttering words that she had been worried about him. It was then that he had realized what he meant to Kaoru. He had felt as if his mother were holding him. 

Then, there were the many times when he had watched Kenshin and Kaoru together. Sometimes just sitting near each other, sometimes talking in the courtyard, sometimes working together in the kitchen, with Kenshin doing most of the work. Each time, he would imagine them holding hands or kissing or hugging. They were things he had watched his parents do before they died, and watching it had given him a sense of security, of love, of home. There was none of that here, for all Kenshin and Kaoru showed for each other was a friendship deeper than normal. Both were too afraid to allow their love to show. So they settled for infrequent touches on the arm, teasing, smiles.

But Kenshin was a rurouni and he could leave at any time. Kenshin's leaving for Kyoto had hurt Yahiko more than he had let on. Their home had been broken. Yes, they had gone after Kenshin to bring him back, but for a long time, their home had been broken. Yahiko never wanted that to happen again.

He admired Kenshin for his swordsmanship, but inside Kenshin he saw a man stronger than his sword. And Yahiko knew that was what he wanted to be. 

Sounds at the gate drew Yahiko out of his introspection and he realized that Kenshin and Kaoru were back from their walk. Yahiko slung his shinai over his shoulder and walked toward the gate to meet them. The gate opened to reveal the couple. They were not holding hands, but Kaoru was smiling prettily.

Yahiko gave her a cocky smile. "So, Busu, did you kiss him?"

And the chase was on again.

Author's notes: Hm. This was a very short one, but I think it reveals a lot about Yahiko. I'm not sure if he even knew his parents, so that part of my story may be false. Now, you're probably thinking, "Yahiko doesn't think like that!" But I think he does. He's a 10-year-old orphan who probably wants a home very badly. My first clue came when I watched the "Faces of Evil" DVD that just came out. Yahiko actually told Kaoru that she and Kenshin were going too slow when they were sitting on the rooftop together! Now, a young boy wouldn't think like that unless he had a reason to, and I think Yahiko's reason is that he wants them to love each other so that he can have a mom and dad again. That's just my theory, and maybe I'm just reading into things, so take it with a grain of salt. ^_^


End file.
